Fruit

In the Pacific Northwest, the earliest varieties are often ready to start picking by mid-August. If you are not sure when you should start checking the varieties in your yard for their ripeness, review our ripening order list on our website under plant care or consult the Raintree catalog. Some people like their fruit more green and tart, others more...

Apples are an all-American success story-each of us eats more than 19 pounds of them annually. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Here at Raintree Nursery we enjoy making apple cider each October. We use a Cider Press to extract the juice from the apples, ours is made by Correll. They are hand made and do have a waiting list. www.correllciderpresses.com Often...

Free-standing espaliered fruit trees (step-over) at Standen, West Sussex, England May 2006. As can be seen, the trees are used to create a fruit border or low hedge (Photo credit: Wikipedia) VINES: Manage the canopy of your vigorous grape vines. As fall approaches it may be desirable to remove some leaves, or shoots, to expose ripening fruit to the...

Plum curculio and the damage caused (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Spinosad (#T177), a quick acting broad spectrum natural insecticide spray derived from the metabolites of a common soil bacterium, and BioNeem (#T172), a natural insecticide derived from the Neem tree, are both effective against codling moth, plum curculio, and currant worm caterpillars before they enter the fruit. Use Spinosad for...

Select a fertilizer that is appropriate for the plant you are growing to get optimal performance in the container. Use citrus fertilizer for citrus plants, and blueberry/rhododendron fertilizer for vacciniums (blueberry, huckleberry, lingonberry and cranberry). For Bananas, encourage lots of vigorous growth initially with a foliage supportive formula that has a high nitrogen content, then switch to a formula that...

Raspberries. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Raspberries are typically grown in a two foot wide row. Prepare the soil for planting by first clearing weeds in a 3-4’ wide strip the length you are planning to plant. Put a 3-4” thick layer of composted manure (cow, steer, or other ruminants, not chicken) or leaf mold on the surface of the row...

By Western Washington Fruit Research Foundation The Western Washington Fruit Research Foundation (WWFRF) presents its Winter Field Day on Saturday, March 1, 2014, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Washington State University Northwest Washington Research and Extension Center (WSU-NWREC), 16650 State Route 536, Mount Vernon, Washington. Hosted in cooperation with WSU-NWREC, this year’s event will include grafting and mason...

A test site with several fruit tree forms located at Gaasbeek Castle. (Wikicommons) Planting time has arrived for those in moderate winter climates including people living west of the Cascade Mountains in the Pacific Northwest. So long as the ground is not under water or water-logged, frozen or covered with snow, and the temperature is above freezing when you...

English: A "Belle de Boskoop" apple. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Check stored fruit for rot, discard or use any fruits with bad spots. Many fruits will still be in excellent shape. Apples Belle de Boskoop, Karmijn de Sonneville, Enterprise, King Edward VII and Melrose apples all have a long storage life. Pears Comice, Bosc, Highland and Conference European pears, and...